Hey Robert,
There are a host of variables with your project, tough to give definitive answers.
I do know you own one of the best tools for copying CD's to your hardrive, and that is your Mac laptop when its not plugged into the charger. Mac's just sound better than PC's, i'm thoroughly convinced of this. And battery power is always welcome here in stereo land.
EAC is a free program, definitely download it & i'll show you how to use it, and get it set-up, when i stop by for TT tutorial 101 in the next few days. to the unititiated, EAC can be a pain to set-up properly.
If all you are looking to do is get your CD's into your harddrive, its easy and sounds good given the tools you already have + EAC. I can also bring by some Mikrosmooth, I use this on ALL my CD's before copying them to my harddrive...it eliminates jitter and does a good job.
I wouldn't recomend re-burning all your CD's.... that would take a VERY long time! The CD-R blanks I use are rated to last for 300 years, but they cost $1 each. Mitsui Gold Audio Masters. Sure they sound good, better than the original is a stretch though. however, i have a custom made PC & it sounds terrible, even with a hi-end powercord and a load of Silclear inside the pc's case....
the program dbpoweramp is a good one too, thanks for listing that Woodsyi. It has a lot more options than EAC.
matt